Bassist and Assistant Professor Oscar Stagnaro released his first CD Mariella's Dream, featuring Paquito D'Rivera (reeds), Alex Acuña (percussion), Dave Samuels (vibes), Ed Simon (piano), Oscar Feldman (flute), Richie Zellon (guitar, sequencing), and Ramón Stagnaro (guitar)

Associate Professor Dan Moretti's release Stories is receiving airplay on 180 radio stations. The CD of his original compositions features Tim Ray (piano), Associate Professor Bruce Bartlett (guitar), Marty Ballou (bass), and Marty Richards (drums).

Assistant Professor David Scott placed third in the professional division of the Boston-area Song and Aria Festival sponsored by the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Scott performed songs by Mozart, Massenet, and Barber.

Assistant Professor and jazz guitarist Eric T. Johnson released the CD Herbie Nichols, Volume 1, featuring songs by Nichols. Saxophonist and Associate Professor George Garzone also appears on the CD.

Associate Professor Mirek Kocandrle released a CD titled Early Works for Big Band, Volume One. Other faculty members on the disc include Phil Wilson (trombone), Bruce Nifong (alto sax), and Ed Tomassi (tenor sax).

Professor and flutist Wendy Rolfe performed in a recital titled Black Composers and Musical Roots of Brazil at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and at Harvard University in April.

Two of Assistant Professor Beth Denisch's works for woodwinds and percussion were performed at a concert benefiting IMPACT, an organization dedicated to stopping violence and abuse.

Assistant Professor John Funkhouser released FunkHouse II, a trio album of his compositions with himself on piano, Matt Pavolka on bass, and Blake Lindberg on drums. Funkhouser also plays bass with 11-year-old autistic pianist Matt Savage on his trio recording Chasing Your Tail.

Associate Professor Francine Trester's Guitar Concerto was premiered in April by guitarist Robert Ward and conductor Eric Sawyer at the Longy School of Music.

Assistant Professor Tony Carbone sang a song penned by Barbara Jordan in the Stephen King movie Dreamcatcher. Carbone also sang a tune by Songwriting Chair Jack Perricone for the NBC series Providence.

Professor Julius Williams will receive the Gracie Allen Award in New York on June 26. He scored Fighting for Our Future, an award-winning documentary. Essays by Williams and Assistant Professor Jonathan Holland appear in the book Musical Landscapes in Color. Williams also contributed to a book/CD compilation of spirituals titled The Hall Johnson Collection.

In January, Music Business/Management Chair Don Gorder served on a panel at the International Association of Jazz Educators Conference. In April, Gorder spoke about digital music and Apple iTunes on New England Cable News.

Associate Professor Tom Stein (bass) Associate Professor Jeff Stout (trumpet), Professor Bob Doezema (guitar), Associate Professor Daryl Lowery (sax), and Associate Professor Larry Finn (drums) performed with Dr. Al Kooper and the Funky Faculty in Japan, Manchester, New Hampshire, and New York.

Instructor Sarah Brindell released her debut CD Piece of Mind, with Brindell on vocals and keyboards. Among the performers are her mother, Jill Brindell (cello), her father, William Klingelhoffer (French horn), and her aunt, Mary Stolper (flute).

Associate Professors Abigail Aronson and Norm Zocher released their new Abby and Norm Group CD Melodic Miner's Daughter. The disc features Associate Professor George Garzone (saxophone), plus Bevan Manson (piano) and Brooke Sofferman (drums).

Piano Chair Stephany Tiernan performed her piano composition "Dryadic Harmony" at the Hildegard Festival of Women in the Arts at California State University at Stanislaus in March.

Brass Chair Tom Plsek was a guest soloist and master clinician at the Contemporary Trombone Conference held at Bowling Green State University. His duo work The Gu Series (with dancer Marjorie Morgan) was named one of the top-10 dance events of last year by the Boston Globe.

Assistant Professor Tomo Fujita's Instant Guitar book/DVD was published by Berklee Press. Fujita is currently completing a DVD for the series Accelerate Your Guitar Playing, Vol.3. His articles have appeared in Japanese music magazines.

Professor Greg Hopkins did a winter jazz tour in Macedonia with guitarist Toni Kitanovski and was featured on a CD from Icelandic saxophonist Joel Palsson. Hopkins also plays on the CD Quintology with his quintet, featuring Professor Mick Goodrick, Woodwind Chair Billy Pierce, and drummer Gary Chaffee, and on the Tre Corda CD with Tim Ray (piano) and Associate Professor Eugene Friesen (cello).

Professor Stephen Webber recently produced and played guitar on a new CD featuring African-American gospel singer John Edmonds. Webber's educational efforts in the areas of DJing, remixing, and hip-hop were the subject of interviews on radio and television, and in such newspapers as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Herald, and others.

Percussion Manager and vibraphonist Matthias Lupri played on the soundtrack of the ABC TV series Alias. One of his jazz compositions tied for third place in the Annual Billboard Song contest.

Professor Bruce Gertz presented two shows at the Regattabar in March with John Abercrombie (guitar), Jerry Bergonzi (saxophone), Joey Calderazzo (piano), and Adam Nussbaum (drums). Gertz has published two Mastering the Bass books with Mel Bay Publications. Gertz also released the CD Dreaming Out Loud with the trio Kaufman, Gertz, Bergonzi, and two play-along CDs to accompany his book Walkin'.

Assistant Professor and guitarist/vocalist Thaddeus Hogarth and his band opened for Tower of Power in Hartford, Connecticut in April.

Assistant Professor Jerry Cecco was guest conductor, arranger, trumpeter, vocal soloist, and clinician with the Xalapa Pops Orchestra in Xalapa, Mexico.

Associate Professor Thomas Hojnacki conducted the Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra and the New Word Chorale in a performance of Bizet's Carmen in Milford, Massachusetts in April. Hojnacki's "Quintet for Brass" was played at the June opening of the Center for Arts in Natick.

Professor Scott Free brought a student quintet to open for vocalist Shawnn Monteiro at the Boston Jazz Society's 30th anniversary celebration. Two of Free's compositions were recently performed at a concert series in Rhode Island.

Associate Professor Craig Macrae gave a presentation called Uzbek Popular Song and Affirmation of Central Asian Muslim Values in April at the Columbia University School of International Affairs.

Assistant Professor and keyboardist Matt Jenson and the 14-piece Berklee Bob Marley Ensemble performed in Kingdom Rise, Kingdom Fall: A Celebration of the Spirit With Caribbean Flava at the Harvard Divinity School.

Associate Professor Lisa Thorson performed in June at JazzArtSigns: A Multimedia, Multisensory, and Interactive Jazz Event at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Percussion Assistant Chair Yoron Israel performed with his group Organic and guest vibraphonist Jay Hoggard at the Blue Note jazz club.

Professor Phil Wilson mentored Berklee student Chris Dempsey, who won the solo jazz competition at the Eastern Trombone Workshop held in April in Washington, D.C.

Associate Professor Bret Willmott penned Time for the Future/Polyrhythm in Harmony, for Mel Bay Publications. He released his second CD titled Bret's Frets Side-Steppin'. His group Bret's Euro Frets has toured Europe annually since forming in 1994.

Assistant Professor Angelamia Bachemin and her jazz/hip-hop ensemble were part of the six-city Beats for Peace Tour in May sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee.

Joe Smith, who stepped down as dean of the Professional Writing Division to become a film scoring professor, was the guest of honor at a roast at Ryles Jazz Club in May. Over 160 of his friends and Berklee colleagues attended.